Many clients, especially those who require fingerprint or other security clearance for their jobs, want to know if their employers, friends, and family can find out that they’ve been arrested for a DUI.

The answer is yes.

Anyone with access to the internet and a few minutes can find a citation in almost every court in Arizona. It’s as simple as typing a name into the court’s database. In most cases, they can see all of the charges on your citation, when it happened, and usually a list of activity in your case (court dates, motions filed, etc.). You can find links those court websites on a court resource page. If they want further information, it’s possible that they could even request a copy of your police report.

There’s not much a person can do about having this kind of information out there for anyone to see. There is no true expungement of records in Arizona, so even if you are found not guilty or your case is dismissed, the public can still see that there was a charge against you—but it will also show the dismissal or acquittal. Even if you get a “set aside” (more information on set asides here), the citation (arrest) will still show up.